Uploaded February 2017 | Updated September 2026, 3 days ago
Almost 20 years before the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, was the Torrey Canyon oil spill off the coast of England. The Torrey Canyon incident was the first oil spill to draw attention to the dangers of dispersants. Extremely large quantities of dispersants were used during the response, clearly for aesthetic and not ecological purposes. Contamination by oil without dispersants resulted in less adverse biological effect than where dispersants were used. On the morning of March 18, 1967, the Torrey Canyon, chartered by British Petroleum, ran aground on off Lands End in England. The entire cargo, approximately 860,000 barrels, was released into the sea or burned during the next twelve days. Ships of the Royal Navy carrying detergents were en route to the scene within four hours of the grounding. A detergent, primarily BP1002, made by British Petroleum, was sprayed on much of the floating oil to emulsify and disperse it. Over 10,000 tons of detergents, primarily BP1002, which contained 12 percent nonionic surfactant , 3 percent stabilizer and the remaining 60-70% aromatic solvent, such as benzene, xylene and toluene., were sprayed on the floating oil to emulsify and disperse it. Forty-two vessels were chartered for the spraying operation. Concentrations of 10 parts per million or less of these detergents were acutely toxic to many marine mammals and plants. The formation of water-in-oil emulsions, containing up to 80 percent water, greatly increased the volume of material and its resistance to dispersants. Approximately half of the cargo did not reach the shore because it weathered, evaporated, or was dispersed by natural mechanisms. For several months following the dispersant application, many shorelines were recoated with oil-dispersant mixtures. Dispersants are chemical agents that are typically mixtures of solvents, surfactants, and additives; that are likely to cause additional harm, either alone or in combination with oil, to public health or welfare or the environment; and that reduce the oil-water interfacial tension and move the oil beneath the water surface by promoting the temporary formation of small droplets of oil in the water column. Dispersants are likely to inhibit removal of oil from a contaminated environment acting to increase formation of oily plumes in the water column, and sedimentation and deposition of oil to the bottom of a water body. Dispersants are not intended to be collected and recovered from the environment. Manual removal methods, including the use of straw and gorse to soak up oil, were used on many of the sandy beaches on the north coast of Brittany. Cleanup operations included pumping and bailing of oil as well as bulldozing of oiled sand on the beaches. Over 1,400 personnel from the British armed services assisted with beach cleanup. Approximately 4,000 tons of oil and oil emulsions were removed from the foreshores of Guernsey. After considering the options of towing the vessel or attempting to pump oil off the vessel while it was still on the reef, government authorities decided to bomb the vessel to burn the remaining oil. The vessel was bombed by the Royal Navy on March 28-30 during periods of low water when the vessel was in clear view. A Navy helicopter dropped napalm, sodium chlorate, and aviation fuel to fuel the fire. The vessel lost structural integrity on March 26, releasing more oil into the water. Since towing the vessel off of the reef was deemed impossible, the government decided to bomb the vessel. This 1967 film was sponsored by the Unilever Corporation.
Almost 20 years before the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska, was the Torrey Canyon oil spill off the coast of England. The Torrey Canyon incident was the first oil spill to draw attention to the dangers of dispersants. Extremely large quantities of dispersants were used during the response, clearly for aesthetic and not ecological purposes. Contamination by oil without dispersants resulted in less adverse biological effect than where dispersants were used. On the morning of March 18, 1967, the Torrey Canyon, chartered by British Petroleum, ran aground on off Lands End in England. The entire cargo, approximately 860,000 barrels, was released into the sea or burned during the next twelve days. Ships of the Royal Navy carrying detergents were en route to the scene within four hours of the grounding. A detergent, primarily BP1002, made by British Petroleum, was sprayed on much of the floating oil to emulsify and disperse it. Over 10,000 tons of detergents, primarily BP1002, which contained 12 percent nonionic surfactant , 3 percent stabilizer and the remaining 60-70% aromatic solvent, such as benzene, xylene and toluene., were sprayed on the floating oil to emulsify and disperse it. Forty-two vessels were chartered for the spraying operation. Concentrations of 10 parts per million or less of these detergents were acutely toxic to many marine mammals and plants. The formation of water-in-oil emulsions, containing up to 80 percent water, greatly increased the volume of material and its resistance to dispersants. Approximately half of the cargo did not reach the shore because it weathered, evaporated, or was dispersed by natural mechanisms. For several months following the dispersant application, many shorelines were recoated with oil-dispersant mixtures. Dispersants are chemical agents that are typically mixtures of solvents, surfactants, and additives; that are likely to cause additional harm, either alone or in combination with oil, to public health or welfare or the environment; and that reduce the oil-water interfacial tension and move the oil beneath the water surface by promoting the temporary formation of small droplets of oil in the water column. Dispersants are likely to inhibit removal of oil from a contaminated environment acting to increase formation of oily plumes in the water column, and sedimentation and deposition of oil to the bottom of a water body. Dispersants are not intended to be collected and recovered from the environment. Manual removal methods, including the use of straw and gorse to soak up oil, were used on many of the sandy beaches on the north coast of Brittany. Cleanup operations included pumping and bailing of oil as well as bulldozing of oiled sand on the beaches. Over 1,400 personnel from the British armed services assisted with beach cleanup. Approximately 4,000 tons of oil and oil emulsions were removed from the foreshores of Guernsey. After considering the options of towing the vessel or attempting to pump oil off the vessel while it was still on the reef, government authorities decided to bomb the vessel to burn the remaining oil. The vessel was bombed by the Royal Navy on March 28-30 during periods of low water when the vessel was in clear view. A Navy helicopter dropped napalm, sodium chlorate, and aviation fuel to fuel the fire. The vessel lost structural integrity on March 26, releasing more oil into the water. Since towing the vessel off of the reef was deemed impossible, the government decided to bomb the vessel. This 1967 film was sponsored by the Unilever Corporation.
